I'm so excited for the coming season. The moves we've made have been great this offseason. The only thing keeping me from being optimistic is, like mentioned before, the qb position. If smith can be any semblance of a decent qb, we should have a good season. Just serviceable, thats all I'm asking.

@StuckInSoCal - I believe we are going to make the playoffs this year - we should have won the division last year; If we had finished Vikings and Colts games and even the Seattle loss we would have won 11 games (10 wins would have won the division). The Vikings game was just unfortunate that Farve... Well he was Farve. We outplayed the Colts in Indy. And If we had any kind of offense in the 2nd half of the Seattle loss, we would have won no problem...

We are a much better team than most of you believe, and wait for this... Alex Smith is a good QB - There I said it. I have been Alex hater no.1 until last year, but now I believe he not only CAN be a good QB but he WILL be.

@Nate Davis dickriders - Odds are this guy will never climb higher than the 2 spot on any roster for his entire career. Don't believe the preseason hype - every year guys have "breakout" performances in the preseason - remember how good Coffee, and every other running back that didn't even make the roster, looked last year? It's not hard to look good against other scrubs.

I'm no expert but there is a reason why Smith is the starter and has been given so many opportunities - because there are people that believe he can win football games. On the same note, there is a reason why Davis is buried on the depth chart it's likely due to the fact that he isn't mentally ready, but it's not like Alex came from a pro offense in college - quite the opposite in fact.

I guess I further my rant by showing some stats:
*denotes a pro bowler - alternate maybe, but still.

Furthermore if you take what Smith did in his 10.5 games and extrapolate those numbers over 16 games:
3581 Yards - 17th in the NFL
27 TDs - Tied for 8th in the NFL

I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about how Alex has had x amount of OCs in x amount of years, and that this will be his first year with the same OC - but this is significant for a guy that has had to learn 4 new play books in his first 4 years while coming out of the spread in college.

If any 9er fans+Alex haters want to purpose an avatar bet about Alex's performance in 2010, bring it on - I'd purpose a sig bet but I'm reserving that in the unlikely even that Pawno wins his bet...

Edit:
Happy B-Day to Alex Smith - lol, seriously After that Alex-crush post, I found out that it actually is his birthday (5/7/84).

JREED23 wrote:@StuckInSoCal - I believe we are going to make the playoffs this year - we should have won the division last year; If we had finished Vikings and Colts games and even the Seattle loss we would have won 11 games (10 wins would have won the division). The Vikings game was just unfortunate that Farve... Well he was Farve. We outplayed the Colts in Indy. And If we had any kind of offense in the 2nd half of the Seattle loss, we would have won no problem...

We are a much better team than most of you believe, and wait for this... Alex Smith is a good QB - There I said it. I have been Alex hater no.1 until last year, but now I believe he not only CAN be a good QB but he WILL be.

I certainly think we can make the playoffs, but until we start winning the games we should I won't start thinking we will make the playoffs. I saw too much of our offensive success come last year on comebacks when opposing defenses went into cover 2 (or whatever other D they can to take away big plays but allows the Niners much easier yardage). I saw far too many three-and-outs and no-yardage drives to be convinced we'll emerge next year as a lock for the playoffs.

But you're right. We're right there. The team just needs to do it, now.

For at least the past two years, the San Francisco 49ers have bet the house on Santa Clara as the best place to build a gleaming new stadium for NFL Sundays.

But if recent polls prove wrong and Santa Clara voters on June 8 reject a proposed stadium project, the 49ers, while staggered like any gambler who loses that big bet, will still have plenty of chips to play in their quest to replace their antiquated home at Candlestick Park.

San Francisco, Oakland and even Los Angeles area interests are ready and waiting with stadium possibilities for the 49ers if Measure J goes down in Santa Clara, which would be an upset given polls showing a majority of likely voters favor building a $937 million stadium on a parking lot adjacent to Great America theme park.

San Francisco and Oakland officials in particular appear to be vying for the 49ers' attentions, both certain they offer the best locations and financial prospects for a new stadium even if Santa Clara voters approve the stadium measure.

"If this doesn't pass," said former 49ers President Carmen Policy, who is consulting for the developer of a proposed commercial and residential project at San Francisco's Hunters Point that includes a stadium, "they have to look elsewhere. And we are the logical place for them to look."

Advocates of luring the 49ers to Oakland, possibly in a two-team sharing arrangement with the Oakland Raiders, say San Francisco cannot match the East Bay'sAdvertisementtransit-friendly location. Niners President Jed York has said in recent months that he would consider Oakland as an option if the Santa Clara project falls through, and Raiders CEO Amy Trask has told the Mercury News that her franchise could work with the 49ers as both teams try to replace two of the oldest stadiums in the league.

"I really believe the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is the best location for a stadium for the Raiders and the 49ers," said Oakland City Councilman Ignacio de la Fuente, co-chair of the region's Coliseum Authority.

York is quick to dismiss such speculation, insisting the team is focused entirely on winning the election in Santa Clara and moving forward with the planned 68,500-seat stadium that would open for the 2014 season. And if Measure J fails and the 49ers need to turn to Plan B?

"There's nothing active," York said. "If the vote isn't successful in Santa Clara, we're going to do everything we can to build a new stadium in Northern California."

During the campaign, York has made it clear that whether it is Santa Clara or elsewhere in the Bay Area, he does not want to be depicted as a villain to fans, as was the case with Art Modell, who moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in the mid-1990s, or Robert Irsay, who moved the equally beloved Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis in 1984, infamously packing the moving vans in the dark of night to leave town.

As a result, NFL observers consider it unlikely the 49ers would consider the Los Angeles area, where developer Ed Roski has made moves to re-establish a franchise in the City of Industry with a wish list of seven possible NFL teams who need stadiums, including the 49ers. But the option for a proposed $800 million stadium is there.

"They are not seen as a team that would do that," an NFL executive knowledgeable about stadium issues said of the 49ers. "Around the NFL, around stadium circles, people have assumed the 49ers would find a way to stay in the Bay Area."

San Francisco certainly has not abandoned hopes of keeping the 49ers. And those hopes center on a sprawling commercial and residential project backed by the Lennar Corp., which has included a stadium in the plans for Hunters Point, pushed by San Francisco city officials. The deal would be privately financed, and would not require a public vote because San Francisco already approved a stadium plan for the area in 1997.

And while relations between the 49ers and San Francisco City Hall have been icy at best, officials say those tensions could ease in the coming years with a new mayor and new Board of Supervisors. City officials say they are ready for the 49ers if the Santa Clara deal collapses.

"No matter what, we believe San Francisco will remain an extremely viable alternative for a new stadium," said Michael Cohen, head of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

In the end, supporters of a new stadium in Santa Clara consider all the talk of other options just idle chatter. Former 49ers star running back Roger Craig, who is campaigning for Measure J, insists 49ers fans throughout the region will wind up content with a new stadium in Silicon Valley.

"I'm confident it's going to work out," said Craig, who now lives in Portola Valley. "It's in the Bay Area, so history is going to take its course. Just because the stadium is in Santa Clara doesn't mean people will forget San Francisco. It's still going to be the San Francisco 49ers."

I'm torn when it comes to the probable locations - Where I don't see anything wrong with Santa Clara, i just wish the team could remain in SF. Oakland is definitely not an option and as I've said before in no way does a shared stadium make sense for the Raiders or 9ers.

In the extremely unlikely event that the 9ers move to some where like the waste land of LA - I will heavily debate whether I'll remain a 9er fan, and likely wont. Didn't Al Davis say that if LA put up the $$$ he would move back? lol if they offered to build the 9ers a stadium but not the raiders...

Going back to the Oakland suggestion, this is just retarded - Oakland can't even support 2 of the 3 pro teams they currently have, and after another pathetic season by the dubs you can make that 3 out of 3.

JREED23 wrote:I'm torn when it comes to the probable locations - Where I don't see anything wrong with Santa Clara, i just wish the team could remain in SF. Oakland is definitely not an option and as I've said before in no way does a shared stadium make sense for the Raiders or 9ers.

In the extremely unlikely event that the 9ers move to some where like the waste land of LA - I will heavily debate whether I'll remain a 9er fan, and likely wont. Didn't Al Davis say that if LA put up the $$$ he would move back? lol if they offered to build the 9ers a stadium but not the raiders...

Going back to the Oakland suggestion, this is just retarded - Oakland can't even support 2 of the 3 pro teams they currently have, and after another pathetic season by the dubs you can make that 3 out of 3.

I'd like to see the people of San Francisco fight to keep there brand name and team colours unique to there juristriction

Sure Santa Clara is right down the road, But i like the precedent of what's happened with the Seattle Supersonics being able to keep there brand name to the state of Washington.

As for Oakland being a retard option, well it's the primest real estate for the venture... The Santa Clara location or a upgraded Candlestick just doesn't work for people who live in EAST BAY and all the Expansion of growth going out EAST of the BAY AREA. It will be hard for a lot of Cheese & Wine eating Niners fans to travel to one of the most notorious violent places on the planet, but im sure with the redevelopment & the BART STATION right on by there servicing all corners of the BAY AREA, People would then become accustom to visiting the Collesium

(Plus Niners management would be more acceptable to sharing a stadium in the EAST BAY then the RAIDERS going to the otherside of the BAY AREA of the PENNINSULA)

JREED23 wrote:I'm torn when it comes to the probable locations - Where I don't see anything wrong with Santa Clara, i just wish the team could remain in SF. Oakland is definitely not an option and as I've said before in no way does a shared stadium make sense for the Raiders or 9ers.

In the extremely unlikely event that the 9ers move to some where like the waste land of LA - I will heavily debate whether I'll remain a 9er fan, and likely wont. Didn't Al Davis say that if LA put up the $$$ he would move back? lol if they offered to build the 9ers a stadium but not the raiders...

Going back to the Oakland suggestion, this is just retarded - Oakland can't even support 2 of the 3 pro teams they currently have, and after another pathetic season by the dubs you can make that 3 out of 3.

I'd like to see the people of San Francisco fight to keep there brand name and team colours unique to there juristriction

Sure Santa Clara is right down the road, But i like the precedent of what's happened with the Seattle Supersonics being able to keep there brand name to the state of Washington.

As for Oakland being a retard option, well it's the primest real estate for the venture... The Santa Clara location or a upgraded Candlestick just doesn't work for people who live in EAST BAY and all the Expansion of growth going out EAST of the BAY AREA. It will be hard for a lot of Cheese & Wine eating Niners fans to travel to one of the most notorious violent places on the planet, but im sure with the redevelopment & the BART STATION right on by there servicing all corners of the BAY AREA, People would then become accustom to visiting the Collesium

(Plus Niners management would be more acceptable to sharing a stadium in the EAST BAY then the RAIDERS going to the otherside of the BAY AREA of the PENNINSULA)

Pawno, your assessment is ridiculous... have you been to any niner games or seen any on TV? this cheese and wine stereotype is ridiculous. Like on the day of a niner game, raider fans are going to show up and cause trouble. The Santa Clara site is the most ready. There is already a precedent with stadiums in New Jersey for the Giants and jets, and other teams with stadiums outside of city limits. Santa Clara makes the most sense .

JREED23 wrote:I'm torn when it comes to the probable locations - Where I don't see anything wrong with Santa Clara, i just wish the team could remain in SF. Oakland is definitely not an option and as I've said before in no way does a shared stadium make sense for the Raiders or 9ers.

In the extremely unlikely event that the 9ers move to some where like the waste land of LA - I will heavily debate whether I'll remain a 9er fan, and likely wont. Didn't Al Davis say that if LA put up the $$$ he would move back? lol if they offered to build the 9ers a stadium but not the raiders...

Going back to the Oakland suggestion, this is just retarded - Oakland can't even support 2 of the 3 pro teams they currently have, and after another pathetic season by the dubs you can make that 3 out of 3.

I'd like to see the people of San Francisco fight to keep there brand name and team colours unique to there juristriction

Sure Santa Clara is right down the road, But i like the precedent of what's happened with the Seattle Supersonics being able to keep there brand name to the state of Washington.

As for Oakland being a retard option, well it's the primest real estate for the venture... The Santa Clara location or a upgraded Candlestick just doesn't work for people who live in EAST BAY and all the Expansion of growth going out EAST of the BAY AREA. It will be hard for a lot of Cheese & Wine eating Niners fans to travel to one of the most notorious violent places on the planet, but im sure with the redevelopment & the BART STATION right on by there servicing all corners of the BAY AREA, People would then become accustom to visiting the Collesium

(Plus Niners management would be more acceptable to sharing a stadium in the EAST BAY then the RAIDERS going to the otherside of the BAY AREA of the PENNINSULA)

Pawno, your assessment is ridiculous... have you been to any niner games or seen any on TV? this cheese and wine stereotype is ridiculous. Like on the day of a niner game, raider fans are going to show up and cause trouble. The Santa Clara site is the most ready. There is already a precedent with stadiums in New Jersey for the Giants and jets, and other teams with stadiums outside of city limits. Santa Clara makes the most sense .

You Live in San Jose bro... Of Course the Santa Clara site SUITS YOU

We should know soon about the vote, But don't go whinging and crying if it gets knocked back & the realistic option becomes OAKLAND aka EAST BAY aka HEART OF THE BAY!!!

Fans not wanting to visit Oakland cause it's too violent is exactly like the stereotype of me calling yall a bunch of cheese and wine eaters!

RobDIKUM wrote: this cheese and wine stereotype is ridiculous. Like on the day of a niner game, raider fans are going to show up and cause trouble.

My bad... i feel ya.

You don't think the majority of Raiders fans are gonna turn up to start trouble.

But i don't see Al Davis sharing a stadium in Santa Clara (so he'll need his own digs to cater for his fanbase) but if this stadium deal falls through in Santa Clara then i can see Jed York packing up and moving to Oakland cause he knows he's fanbase can travel to the East BAY!

JREED23 wrote:I'm torn when it comes to the probable locations - Where I don't see anything wrong with Santa Clara, i just wish the team could remain in SF. Oakland is definitely not an option and as I've said before in no way does a shared stadium make sense for the Raiders or 9ers.

In the extremely unlikely event that the 9ers move to some where like the waste land of LA - I will heavily debate whether I'll remain a 9er fan, and likely wont. Didn't Al Davis say that if LA put up the $$$ he would move back? lol if they offered to build the 9ers a stadium but not the raiders...

Going back to the Oakland suggestion, this is just retarded - Oakland can't even support 2 of the 3 pro teams they currently have, and after another pathetic season by the dubs you can make that 3 out of 3.

I'd like to see the people of San Francisco fight to keep there brand name and team colours unique to there juristriction

Sure Santa Clara is right down the road, But i like the precedent of what's happened with the Seattle Supersonics being able to keep there brand name to the state of Washington.

As for Oakland being a retard option, well it's the primest real estate for the venture... The Santa Clara location or a upgraded Candlestick just doesn't work for people who live in EAST BAY and all the Expansion of growth going out EAST of the BAY AREA. It will be hard for a lot of Cheese & Wine eating Niners fans to travel to one of the most notorious violent places on the planet, but im sure with the redevelopment & the BART STATION right on by there servicing all corners of the BAY AREA, People would then become accustom to visiting the Collesium

(Plus Niners management would be more acceptable to sharing a stadium in the EAST BAY then the RAIDERS going to the otherside of the BAY AREA of the PENNINSULA)

Pawno, your assessment is ridiculous... have you been to any niner games or seen any on TV? this cheese and wine stereotype is ridiculous. Like on the day of a niner game, raider fans are going to show up and cause trouble. The Santa Clara site is the most ready. There is already a precedent with stadiums in New Jersey for the Giants and jets, and other teams with stadiums outside of city limits. Santa Clara makes the most sense .

You Live in San Jose bro... Of Course the Santa Clara site SUITS YOU

We should know soon about the vote, But don't go whinging and crying if it gets knocked back & the realistic option becomes OAKLAND aka EAST BAY aka HEART OF THE BAY!!!

Fans not wanting to visit Oakland cause it's too violent is exactly like the stereotype of me calling yall a bunch of cheese and wine eaters!

oddly enough, you stated both stereotypes... i've been to warrior games, and giants games in oakland. I never felt unsafe. Now, i'll be honest, i rarely go to niner games, so where they play isn't much of an issue. But Santa Clara makes more sense for the team. This east bay as the heart of the bay stuff is funny, but regardless, the east bay team is there, let their fans enjooy that team. Is there something you get out of having the niners play in "your teams" stadium?

RobDIKUM wrote: this cheese and wine stereotype is ridiculous. Like on the day of a niner game, raider fans are going to show up and cause trouble.

My bad... i feel ya.

You don't think the majority of Raiders fans are gonna turn up to start trouble.

But i don't see Al Davis sharing a stadium in Santa Clara (so he'll need his own digs to cater for his fanbase) but if this stadium deal falls through in Santa Clara then i can see Jed York packing up and moving to Oakland cause he knows he's fanbase can travel to the East BAY!

I know monetarily sharing a new stadium may make more sense in making sure something gets done for both teams... but i believe it is on the individual ownership groups to develop plans for their own stadiums. Raiders need a new stadium like the niners do, i'm all for that. I don't think they would move into the niners santa clara stadium, they are going to have space for their own, hopefully if the A's move down here.

That stadium looks great. Looking at all the features and what is available, i wouldn't be surprise if the world cup ever comes to the US (2018?), this could be one of the venues they choose. I am pretty jealous my team will not do anything close to this anytime soon. Glad at least this marvel is probably going to be in the bay.